Bosacker Flirts with Perfection, Quad Cities Wins Third-Straight

Beloit, Wisconsin – Ethan Bosacker struck out 12 and retired the first 20 Sky Carp hitters he faced Thursday to help lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to a 4-1 win over Beloit for the club’s third-straight victory.

With the dozen strikeouts setting a new career-high, Bosacker’s 7.0-inning effort matched a personal best and marked just the second of the season for a Quad Cities pitcher. The right-hander came one pitch shy of a perfect outing, giving up a two-out, two-strike single to Ryan Ignoffo in the sixth. Kemp Alderman followed with a base hit of his own, but Bosacker got Mark Coley II to ground out to close out the gem.

While their starter chased perfection, the Bandits’ bats made sure he never pitched without the lead, as Spencer Nivens launched his tenth blast of the season, a solo shot, off Thomas White as the second batter of the ballgame.

Despite the early tally, the Marlins’ top prospect (MLB Pipeline) then matched Bosacker zero for zero, keeping the Bandits off the board for the remainder of his 5.0-inning start.

After their struggles continued against Edgar Sanchez, who relieved White with 2.0-scoreless innings out of the bullpen, the Bandits got back into the run column in the top of the eighth against Justin Storm and took a 4-0 lead on Trevor Werner’s RBI-double, a Carson Roccaforte sacrifice-fly, and Shervyen Newton’s RBI infield single.

Natanael Garabitos was called upon to close out the ballgame for the second-straight night, needing three outs to secure Quad Cities’ ninth shutout win of the season and the club’s second of the series, but after picking up the first out of the frame, Colby Shade hit a solo home run to end the bid.

Garabitos responded with back-to-back outs including a strikeout of Ignoffo to end the ballgame.

Bosacker (5-1) capped off the career high with his fifth-straight win, while White (2-3) completed a 5.0-inning, one-run start for the fourth consecutive appearance, but was saddled with the loss.

Quad Cities continues its six-game series against Beloit on Friday night and sends Frank Mozzicato (5-10, 3.56) to the mound opposite Emmett Olson (4-6, 4.03). First pitch at ABC Supply Stadium is set for 6:35 p.m.